Bulletins and News Discussion from September 9th to September 15th, 2024 - Viva Sandino! - COTW: Nicaragua

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It takes very little effort to find an article from Western state propaganda decrying Daniel Ortega and the Sandinistas as authoritarian and rife with human rights abuses. This is the natural reaction the US has to any successful liberation movement. This fairly long report from Jason Cohen, a socialist who travelled to Nicaragua one week ago, should quell any suspicions.

He describes a country with high political consciousness among the masses, who are working to construct critical infrastructure for the country and their communities. There is a virtual education system that is free across the entire nation, which serves the dual goal of democratizing education and ensuring that those in rural areas or without much free time for university can still achieve degrees and a quality education; and these classes cover technical skills in the production of infrastructure and agriculture, but also political and ideological education in order to counter the fascist propaganda produced by imperialist nations abroad.

While Nicaragua is deeply invested in its nationality and national figures who led to their socialist revolution, such as Sandino, they are also immensely proud of their indigneous history, recognizing it as also part of their anti-colonial history which continues to the present day. Additionally, they honour the struggles of other nations on the continent, such as the Bolivarian Revolution in Venezuela, as well as Castro in Cuba and Allende in Chile. Countries around the world are also celebrated and admired, such as Burkina Faso; during the Reagan administration, Nicaragua and Burkina Faso were comrades in arms, and now Traore is continuing the legacy of Sankara's anti-imperialism in the present. Perhaps most relevant today is their dedication towards Palestine, involving the creation of the Parque Palestina (shown in the post image), in which the Palestinian flag flies alongside the flag of Nicaragua. In July, Leila Khaled of the PFLP gave a speech in Nicaragua, in which the solidarity of the two nations was highlighted.

The COTW (Country of the Week) label is designed to spur discussion and debate about a specific country every week in order to help the community gain greater understanding of the domestic situation of often-understudied nations. If you've wanted to talk about the country or share your experiences, but have never found a relevant place to do so, now is your chance! However, don't worry - this is still a general news megathread where you can post about ongoing events from any country.

The Country of the Week is Nicaragua! Feel free to chime in with books, essays, longform articles, even stories and anecdotes or rants. More detail here.

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On this day 23 years ago, New York City was rocked by two explosions some eyewitnesses alleged to be passenger planes mysteriously colliding with the World Trade Center.
Nearly 3 thousand people died according to figures by the former Bush-run Department of Health.
When pressed for comment, a spokesperson for Al-Qaeda said they were conducting an internal investigation to determine the circumstances behind the event. The spokesperson added that the collision may have been caused by a technical malfunction.
Final conclusions are pending.
Fact: The average cruising altitude of a passenger airplane is roughly 35,000 feet. The World Trade Center measured only 1,368 feet.
Aviation experts question the accuracy of accounts by purported eyewitnesses.
from https://xcancel.com/Aldanmarki/status/1833658125661904952
- The perfidious terrorist Americans must be lying about the death toll in order to drum up sympathy. Besides, the latest statements by Al-Qaeda say that the terrorists constructed critical infrastructure underneath the World Trade Center, and so Al-Qaeda was well within their rights to strike it, even if a couple people were caught in the blast. They have nobody to blame but themselves. The US murdered those people, not Al-Qaeda.
  And besides, had any of the so-called "victims" condemned America? If not, they are complicit and deserved their fate.
  
  Being the most civilised military in the world, Al-Queda had warned the occupants of the towers by causing a smaller blast in the parking garage, giving any civilians several years time to evacuate the towers before the 2001 incident.
  We shouldn't forget that Americans voted for the bush regime. They really brought this on themselves. The Islamic world has the right to defend themselves against terrorism.
  The Bush regime was known for placing military infrastructure in highly populated areas, using the civilians as human shields. This was also the case with the towers. The high number of military-aged males among the people who allegedly lost their lives in the mysterious collapse raises further questions on the Bush regime's claim that the towers were a civilian target.
- Yeah, 9/11 was sad, but civilian casualties is just the reality of war.

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